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This soft chewy candy was first released in 1975. It was re-released in its current shape (a stick of several individually wrapped candies) in February 1986.

The origins of Hi-chew began when Taichiro Morinaga sought to create an edible kind of chewing gum that could be swallowed because of the Japanese cultural taboo against taking food out of one's mouth. Morinaga was already a maker of caramel. By combining his chewy caramel with strawberry flavoring, Morinaga was able to create a new kind of candy called Chewlets in 1931. Morinaga had to rebuild his company after World War II, and Chewlets was reintroduced in the form it is known today- Hi-Chew.[1]

Hi-Chew is available in eight flavors in the United States: Strawberry, Green Apple, Mango, Melon, Grape, Peach, Banana, and the most recent introduction, Cherry. Since its inception over 131 flavors have been created. In the case that it cannot be found in stores, Hi-Chew can readily be found online for purchase.[4] Currently, stores in the United States that carry Hi-Chew are primarily clustered on the West and East Coasts.[5] A recent development with Hi-Chew is that it has become a gluten free product. Though Hi-Chew itself never actually contained gluten ingredients, it is now produced in facilities that do not process other gluten containing products. However, this is only true for products that have a "Best by" date in 2012 or later.[6] Though Hi-Chew is gluten free, it does contain gelatin ingredients, and it is not halal, kosher, or vegetarian.[4]

Morinaga's American branch donated Hi-Chew in support of athletic programs in northern Utah and Los Angeles. Hi-Chew was donated to help fund raise for soccer and football programs in northern Utah high schools as well as football programs in Los Angeles county high schools. Morinaga donated a total of 7000 Hi-Chew sticks to the schools, with about 500 sticks going to each high school.[7]

In 2008, Morinaga recalled some of its Hi-Chew products due to complaints that rubber-like material had been found in the candy. The source of this turned out to have come from a piece of a worker's glove that had fallen into the cooking vat in the Hyogo Morinaga factory. The green apple and grape flavored varieties of Hi-chew that had a 2009 expiration date were recalled.[8] Some of the affected products also had been exported to Hong Kong, where the Centre for Food Safety monitored the situation and warned the public against its purchase or consumption.[9]